For the third year in a row, the Los Angeles Kings are on the verge of a first round elimination at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers.
The Kings are coming off a Game 4 loss that was undoubtedly their best game of the series. They outshot Edmonton 33-13, but a lone power play goal in the second period from Evan Bouchard ended up being the difference-maker, with the Kings never able to recover.
It’s essentially the biggest regular season issue (scoring) and the biggest playoff issue (the penalty kill) that were the two things that sunk them. For all their opportunities, the Kings couldn’t capitalize, with Stuart Skinner stealing one in a game where Edmonton wasn’t at their best. Then with the only penalty the Kings took the entire game, the Oilers managed to strike.
Now, the Kings find themselves in a 3-1 hole that seems like a very, very difficult task to overcome. In Games 1 and 3, Edmonton showed that when they’re on their game, the Kings are going to have a hard time keeping up. But even on the one night where Los Angeles was actually able to pretty much completely shut down Edmonton’s offense at even strength, they still couldn’t get the job done.
So where do they go from here?
Ultimately, if the penalty kill can’t be sorted out, the Kings remain in big trouble. Edmonton has gone 8-for-15 on the man advantage, and even in Game 4, where they surrendered a single power play, they still got burned. It remains a matter of staying out of the box, and trying as best as possible to keep net-front options on the Oilers’ power play to a minimum.
The team still has yet to get offense from a lot of their key pieces as well. While Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe led the charge in the Game 2 win, Quinton Byfield has done his part, and the top defense pair has chipped in offensively, others are failing to provide the impact the team needs. All of Kevin Fiala, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Trevor Moore and Phillip Danault each have a single point. Making up about half of the team’s top-nine, it’s a tough hurdle to overcome. While they haven’t had consistent scoring throughout the back half of the year, if there was ever a time for certain players to step up, this would be the opportunity.
Meanwhile, David Rittich may have been good in his Game 4 start, but he also faced a very minimal workload. We can expect a much more dynamic Oilers offense to return tonight, and if the Kings can’t get a lot of help in goal, they may not have much of a chance.
Nobody really expected the Kings to put up much of a fight, and at times this series, there’s certainly been a sense that they’re outmatched. But with a second win in Edmonton, they can make a series out of it, and bring it back to Los Angeles later in the week with a chance to draw even.
Regardless, it’s do or die for the Kings - Game 5 goes tonight.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM THE PLAYOFFS
- Previewing Round 1: Kings vs. Oilers
- Kings unable to contain Oilers’ offense, open playoffs with 7-4 loss
- Kempe and Kopitar shine for Kings in Game 2 OT win over Oilers
- Kings suffer blowout loss at home in Game 3, fall 6-1 to Oilers
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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